Recently, there is news that Tianji Automobile, one of the new domestic car-making forces, is undergoing a huge personnel adjustment. Xiang Dongping, the current director and chief marketing officer (CMO) of Tianji Automobile, has resigned from Tianji Automobile. Automobile resignation. However, Tianji Motors responded to the rumors: Xiang Dongping is on vacation, and official information shall prevail.
The news of Xiang Dongping's resignation is undoubtedly a blockbuster for the "newly awakened" car-making forces, disrupting the positions of many "new forces".
The story of Xiang Dongping, the "top student" in automobiles
Unlike the "cross-border car manufacturers" born in the Internet industry, Xiang Dongping has many words "car" in his resume .
In 1998, after graduating from Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Xiang Dongping started working in the "Popular Department". During his tenure, he served as executive director and sales director of the Volkswagen Brand Marketing Division of SAIC Volkswagen.
After that, in 2016, Xiang Dongping also served as executive deputy general manager of Volvo China Sales Company, responsible for sales and network construction.
In October 2017, the story of Xiangdong Pingyu Tianji Automobile began. From traditional industries to new forces in the car-making industry, there are countless such "old people", such as Ding Lei of Chinese Express.
On July 31, 2018, Xiang Dongping officially launched the new high-end brand ENOVATE with Dianka Auto (the predecessor of Tianji Auto) to the public; and announced the Chinese name of the ENOVATE brand - Tianji in November. At the same time, the brand also unveiled Tianji’s first mid-to-large luxury electric SUV - ME7.
Dianka turns to Tianji, brand positioning counterattacks
Founded on June 23, 2015, Tianji Automobile’s initial corporate name was “Zhejiang Dianka Automobile Technology Co., Ltd.” until In March 2019, the brand was officially renamed "Tianji Automotive Technology Group Co., Ltd."
According to the original plan, in the early days of its establishment, Dianka Auto’s product positioning was mainly focused on the mid- to low-end. As the brand's first mass-produced model, the EV10 was officially launched in November 2017.
However, due to product positioning, configuration and other issues, Dianca·EV10, like most "new power" brands, has not achieved very good results in the market. According to data from the Passenger Car Association, the cumulative sales of EV10 in 2018 were 3,918 units. As of today, Dianka·EV10 has been discontinued.
From the perspective of product positioning, the departure of Dianca·EV10 is to better position the Tianji brand. However, from the perspective of model sales, the end of the Dianca era is also forced by "Sales are helpless."
The ideal of ME7 in the Skyline Era
For any brand, if it wants to sell good cars, it must learn to tell stories. The transition from the electric coffee EV10 to the Tianji ME7 is undoubtedly an "ugly duck turning into a swan". However, thanks to the skills of Porsche designer Hakan Saracoglu (currently vice president of design of the Skyline brand), the model ushered in a new life not long after the birth of the Skyline brand.
A good car model needs a good name! The English name of Tianji Motors is "ENOVATE", which embodies the original intention of constantly exploring beautiful travel, which coincides with the views of the brand founder.
Similar to most "new forces", the Tianji brand has been labeling cars "smart" since its birth. The new ME7 was also officially unveiled at the 2019 Shanghai Auto Show. The pre-sale price is 366,800-381,800 yuan. However, as of now, Tianji ME7 is still in the testing stage and has not yet been delivered.
Powerful three-electric system, "Pioneer Reconstruction Aesthetics" design concept, Pilot Assist system L2+ intelligent driving assistance function, Qualcomm Snapdragon S820A Prem high-performance chip... these are all this The highlight of this "rookie". But when it comes to pricing, few consumers pay for it!
Of course, Tianji Automobile also has a relatively "alternative" approach. Different from other "new forces" who find OEM production models, Tianji Automobile prepared to build its own factory at the beginning of its birth. So far, , the company has spent 10.6 billion yuan investing in factories. Perhaps, this is also the biggest bargaining chip for Tianji Auto to “win” over other brands.
Of course, the funds invested in building a factory are not equivalent to the amount of brand financing. Up to now, the financing amount of Tianji Automobile is only 6.5 billion yuan, and this is a new force that spends money like water. To me, it's just a drop in the bucket.
According to Tianji Automobile’s plan, after Tianji ME7 is rolled off the production line and delivered, the brand will also establish car experience stores, fast charging stations, mobile service vehicles... But at that time, how much money can Tianji still have to spend? , it’s really hard to say!
Moving forward is difficult, but ideals will eventually become ideals
Among the "new forces" in car manufacturing, Tianji Automobile is just a small microcosm, and there are still many brands in the "PPT" stage. . According to statistics, in the past 2019, only more than 10 "new forces" have completed mass production delivery, including brands such as Weilai, Weimar, Xiaopeng, and Nezha.
Many people in the industry have a "pessimistic" attitude towards this industry, either because of technology or because of sales. For example, in an earlier incident, Meituan founder Wang Xing published the "3+3+3+3 theory of survival" regarding the automobile industry.
Among them, "3+3+3+3" refers to three central enterprises - FAW, Dongfeng, and Changan; three local state-owned enterprises - SAIC, GAC, and BAIC; three private enterprises - Geely, Great Wall, BYD; three new car-making forces - Ideal, NIO, and Xpeng.
The decline in car sales will also become the norm in recent years. According to sales data released by the Passenger Car Association, passenger car sales in 2019 were 20.69 million units, a year-on-year decrease of 7.4%. Among them, the cumulative sales of new car-making forces for the whole year were only 65,700 units, accounting for only 0.3% of the total number of passenger cars.
However, compared with the data in 2018, the sales volume of "new forces" in 2019 increased by 116.8% year-on-year. However, their overall performance is not very satisfactory!
Among them, NIO, which has attracted much attention, ranks first among the new car-making forces with sales of 20,752 units, but its brand target completion rate is only more than half; WM Motor, which focuses on civilian routes , with annual sales of 16,683 units, ranking second among new forces, further away from its goal of "100,000 units"; ranking third is Xpeng Motors, with annual sales of 14,191 units, and the completion rate is also less than 50 %.
It can be seen from this that if you want to become "famous" among new forces, it is difficult to achieve success by relying on "slogans" alone. For the time being, brands such as Weilai, Xiaopeng, and Weimar have also seized some market opportunities. So, facing Tianji’s production capacity of 60,000 units, how much can it accomplish after it is officially mass-produced?
Tianji Motors, which has 0 mass production, resigned from its CMO, and hindered sales, is plagued by various problems. Where will it go in the future? Perhaps, only time can give us the answer...
This article comes from the author of Autohome Chejiahao and does not represent the views and positions of Autohome.